Bishop Richard Williamson recently told Swedish TV: "I believe there were no gas chambers. I think that two to three hundred thousand Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers."
His position is less denying the Holocaust than it is minimizing it--we have records of gas chambers and the number I learned in high school was that 6 million Jews died during the Holocaust, in addition to about 7 million Roma, homosexuals, and other marginalized groups. Minimizing the scale of the Holocaust, however, is equally dangerous because it lessens its importance as one of the greatest catastrophes of the last century and it disregards the lives of millions who died. In addition, the Pope is a figure much of the world looks to for guidance and he plays an important role in promoting harmony between religions. This action will likely affect Catholic-Jewish relations in the future.
Says Mordechai Lewy, quoted in the article:
We have no intention of interfering in the internal workings of the Catholic Church, however, the eagerness to bring a Holocaust denier back into the Church will cast a shadow on relations between Jews and the Catholic Church.
The lifting of these excommunications, the article noted, had nothing to do with the Holocaust denial and more to do with the politics of the church. There are repercussions, however, given the personal histories of these bishops, and perhaps this Holocaust denial should be addressed by the church. Certainly, driving a wedge between religions is less than conducive to promoting inter-religious tolerance, at the very least.
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